The Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA) and the US-based Holocaust Art Restitution Project, [Inc.] (HARP), a not-for-profit group based in Washington, DC, dedicated to the identification and restitution of looted artworks, have teamed up to offer a unique short course in Amelia, Italy, this summer. This thematic course “Provenance and the challenges of recovering looted assets”will address cultural plunder, undoubtedly one of the thorniest issues facing the art world today.

Course Dates:June 20- 26, 2018

Open to applicants interested in the restitution/repatriation of looted cultural objects and their trafficking, this 5-day course will provide participants with exposure to the research and ethical considerations of modern-day art restitution. As an added bonus students accepted to the course are automatically registered to attend ARCA’s Amelia Conference, June 22-24, 2018 a weekend-long forum for intellectual and professional exchange which explores the indispensable role of research, detection, crime prevention and criminal justice responses in combating all forms of art crime and the illicit trafficking in cultural property.

“Provenance and the challenges of recovering looted assets” will be taught by Marc Masurovsky, the co-founder of the Holocaust Art Restitution Project and guest lecturers. Mr Masurovsky is a historian, researcher, and advocate, specializing in the financial and economic underpinnings of the Holocaust and the Second World War.

Born and raised in Paris, France, Mr. Masurovsky holds a B.A. in Communications and Critical Cultural Studies from Antioch College and an M.A. in Modern European History from American University in Washington, DC, for which his thesis was on “Operation Safehaven.” He worked at the Office of Special Investigations of the US Department of Justice researching Byelorussian war criminals, locating primary source documents, and interviewing war crimes suspects in North America and Western Europe. As a result of his early work on the transfers of looted assets from the Third Reich to the safety (safehaven) of neutral and Allied nations, Marc Masurovsky advised the Senate Banking Committee in the mid-1990s on the involvement of Swiss banks in the Holocaust, then lent his expertise to plaintiffs’ counsels suing Swiss banks on behalf of Holocaust survivors.

Since 1997, Marc Masurovsky has focused his attention on the fate of objects of art looted by the Nazis and their Fascist allies. He has also played a major role in the January 1998 seizure of Egon Schiele’s “Portrait of Wally” and “Night City III” at the Museum of Modern Art of New York and was a director of research for the Clinton-era Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States (PCHA).

Since 2004, Marc Masurovsky has overseen the creation, development and expansion of a fully-searchable, public online database of art objects looted in German-occupied France that transited through the Jeu de Paume in Paris from 1940 to 1944. Marc Masurovsky is co-author of Le Festin du Reich: le pillage de la France, 1940-1944 (2006), and is working on a book on cultural plunder during the Nazi era and its impact on the international art market.

For more information on the course and how to apply, please see the announcement linked above.

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, ARCA will host its annual summer interdisciplinary art crime conference the weekend of June 22nd through June 24th this summer.

Known as the Amelia Conference, the Association's weekend-long event aims to facilitate a critical appraisal of art crimes and the protection of art and cultural heritage and brings together researchers and academics, police, and individuals from many of the allied professions that interact with the art market, coming together to discuss issues of common concern.

ARCA welcomes speaking proposals from individuals in relevant fields, including law, criminal justice, security, art history, conservation, archaeology, or museum security and risk management on the topical sessions listed here. We invite individuals interested in presenting to submit their topic of choice along with a presentation title, a concise 400-word abstract, a brief professional biography and a recent CV to the conference organizers at:

italy.conference [at] artcrimeresearch.org

Accepted presenters will be asked to limit their presentations to 15-20 minutes, and will be grouped together in thematically-organized panels in order to allow time for brief questions from the audience and fellow panelists.

Prof. Eric Huysecom and Dr. Anne Mayor Laboratory Archaeology and Population in Africa, University of Geneva,

Prof. Marc-André Renold Art-Law Centre, University of Geneva

Date: 16-17 November 2017

Location: ETH Zürich
Rämistrasse 101
8092 Zürich, Switzerland

Workshop Fees: CHF 50.00

Invited speakers (see preliminary program (PDF, 120 KB)) will introduce the problems around the antiquities and illicit art trade. Presentations will be made by representatives of AMS laboratories sharing their experiences and practice in dating antiquities. Allied professionals will explore the market for conflict antiquities and fake conflict antiquities as well as scientific and criminological approaches to looking at ways to combat the illicit trade in antiquities.

The 2017 Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, will be held in Boston on November 18–21, 2017 and will feature an interesting panel on legitimacy and forgery and the ethical and unethical trade and publication of historic archaeological material with limited or no provenance.

The title of the panel is: Avoiding Deception: Forgeries, Fake News, and Unprovenanced Material in Religious Studies

$75 for all Saturday and Sunday for university students providing proof of enrollment in an academic program

ARCA will host its annual interdisciplinary art crime conference the weekend of June 23rd through June 25th 2017. Known as The Amelia Conference, the association's weekend-long event aims to facilitate a critical appraisal of art crimes and the protection of art and cultural heritage. As it has for the last eight summers, the event will bring together researchers and academics, police, and provenance researchers as well as members from many of the allied professions in the art world, to discuss issues of common concern.

• art crime and its prevalence
• art crime during war and symmetric and asymmetric conflicts
• archaeological looting and predation
• art crime policing and investigation
• art and heritage law and legal instruments
• the art market and its associated risk
• risk management in the art world
• the provenance of works of art and their historical record of ownership

ARCA welcomes speaking proposals from individuals in relevant fields, including law, criminal justice, security, art history, conservation, archaeology, or museum security and risk management. We invite individuals interested in presenting to submit their topic of choice along with a presentation title, a concise 250 word abstract, a brief professional biography and a recent CV to the conference organizers at:

italy.conference [at]artcrimeresearch.org

Accepted presenters will be asked to limit their presentations to 15-20 minutes, and will be grouped together in thematically organized panels to allow time for brief questions from the audience at the conclusion of each panel session.

Buying and
selling art is a business of passion. But that passion has never seemed so
fraught with risk. Money laundering, criminal sanctions, regulatory compliance,
charges to tax, corporate governance issues, the threat of cyber attack, online
fraud, disputed attribution, question marks over title, and forgery on an
industrial scale - all are variously and increasingly interwoven with the
day-to-day challenges posed by borderless commerce, big data and globalised
criminality. Make one false move, and the price can be high. Businesses,
reputations and livelihoods are on the line.

As announced at
the Art Business Conference on 1 September 2016, this short series of half-day
seminars brings together experienced specialists in their respective fields to
address commercial, compliance and cyber risks. The aim of each seminar is to
bring together senior art market professionals, and to promote discussion
around identifying the risks, and responsible strategies for mitigating and
resolving them.

Each seminar
takes place at the offices of K&L Gates,
overlooking St Paul’s Cathedral. The seminar will commence with breakfast
networking and registration at 9.15 and will include a sandwich lunch.

The second
seminar is on “Criminal and Compliance Risk.” It takes place on
7th February 2017. Speakers confirmed so far, and topics under discussion will
include:

·Professional codes of ethics,
combatting the illicit trade in art and antiquities, and new regulatory
challenges on the horizon (Professor Janet Ulph, Leicester Law
School, University of Leicester; Dr Sophie Vigneron, Kent Law School, University of Kent;
and Ivan Macquisten, art market advisor, campaigner and lobbyist)

January 6, 2017

ARCA will host its 2017 interdisciplinary art crime conference the weekend of June 23rd through June 25th. Known as The Amelia Conference, the association's weekend-long event aims to facilitate a critical appraisal of art crimes and the protection of art and cultural heritage. The event brings together researchers and academics, police, and members from many of the allied professions in the art world, who come together to discuss issues of common concern.

ARCA welcomes speaking proposals from individuals in relevant fields, including law, criminal justice, security, art history, conservation, archaeology, or museum security and risk management. We invite individuals interested in presenting to submit their topic of choice along with a presentation title, a concise 250 word abstract, a brief professional biography and a recent CV to the conference organizers at:

italy.conference [at]artcrimeresearch.org

Accepted presenters will be asked to limit their presentations to 15-20 minutes, and will be grouped together in panels organized thematically, to allow time for brief questions from the audience at the conclusion of each panel session.

Following the success of the first workshop, this second workshop aims specifically at discussions in the area of art fraud and forgeries. The following (third) workshop will focus on looting and iconoclasm (September 2017, Berlin, Ministry of Finance).

All workshops will be structured around a number of presentations by prominent actors in the field, but the main parts are discussions around the topic between all participants.

The aim of the workshop series is to encourage interdisciplinary research, cross-jurisdictional sharing of knowledge and exchange of ideas between academics, practitioners and policy makers. Practitioners will be invited from various backgrounds, such as, police, customs, museums, galleries, auction houses, dealerships, insurance companies, art authenticators, forensic scientists, private security companies etc.

The proposed network not only aims at bringing the different players together, but also establishes a communication platform that will ensure their engagement beyond the three workshops. Organisations invited to the 2nd workshop include: The Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA), Metropolitan Police, German Police (LKA Berlin), Hong Kong Police, Europol, Authenticators and Art Experts, The Art Loss Register, Art Recovery International, Private Policing Sector, Victoria and Albert Museum (Security), National Gallery, Historic England, Artists/Forgers, Insurance Sector, Journalists, Association of Chiefs of Police, MPs, Academics from various disciplines, Art Dealers and many more.

Workshop 2 will focus specifically on the subject area of art fraud and forgery. In an international art market that is currently reaching record levels of pricing and unprecedented levels of speculative sales and investment the incentives for art fraud and forgery have never been higher. Among questions to be addressed will be:

What is the prevalence of this type of crime?

Who are the principal participants?

To what extent are existing regulatory mechanisms effective?

Is self-regulation of the art market the way forward?

How are forgeries placed on the market?

What scientific measures can be taken to better protect the art market?

How should identified fraudulent works of art be dealt with?

How can the legal and financial risks in authenticating works of art be mitigated?

Workshop Schedule

9.00 am Registration

9.30 am – 10.00 am

Introduction by Duncan Chappell and Saskia Hufnagel

10:00am – 11.30 am
1.International Case Studies

Dr. Noah Charney, founder, Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA)

Following the success of the first workshop, this second workshop aims specifically at discussions in the area of art fraud and forgeries. The following (third) workshop will focus on looting and iconoclasm (June 2017, Berlin, Ministry of Finance).

All workshops will be structured around a number of presentations by prominent actors in the field, but the main parts are discussions around the topic between all participants.

The aim of the workshop series is to encourage interdisciplinary research, cross-jurisdictional sharing of knowledge and exchange of ideas between academics, practitioners and policy makers. Practitioners will be invited from various backgrounds, such as, police, customs, museums, galleries, auction houses, dealerships, insurance companies, art authenticators, forensic scientists, private security companies etc.

The proposed network not only aims at bringing the different players together, but also establishes a communication platform that will ensure their engagement beyond the three workshops. Organisations invited to the 2nd workshop include:

Workshop 2 will focus specifically on the subject area of art fraud and forgery. In an international art market that is currently reaching record levels of pricing and unprecedented levels of speculative sales and investment the incentives for art fraud and forgery have never been higher. Among questions to be addressed will be:

1.What is the prevalence of this type of crime?

2.Who are the principal participants?

3.To what extent are existing regulatory mechanisms effective?

4.Is self-regulation of the art market the way forward?

5.How are forgeries placed on the market?

6.What scientific measures can be taken to better protect the art market?

7.How should identified fraudulent works of art be dealt with?

8.How can the legal and financial risks in authenticating works of art be mitigated?

9.00 am Registration

9.30 am – 10.00 am

Introduction by Duncan Chappell and Saskia Hufnagel

10:00am – 11.30 am

1. International Case Studies

Dr. Noah Charney, founder, Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA)

The International Arts & Antiquities Security Forum (IAASF) will be hosted at the NewcastleGateshead Quayside in Newcastle upon Tyne, Friday, November 11, 2016 and will focus on various topics related to texisting or emerging threats and risks for those in the field interested in the protection of arts and antiquities.

Of benefit to security professionals and the wider heritage protection sector including, gallery owners, shippers, insurance companies and curators the event will include presentations on the importance of security in protecting culture and art, the scale of threat to UK arts and antiquities, the threat of terrorism as it relates to art and antiquities, operational best practices in crime prevention for museums and houses of worship, (both physical & technical) as well as how to protect art and antiquities during transit and the ever increasing roll of conservators in the field of heritage protection.

The content of the presentations has been specifically designed to enable everybody to take away a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the issues that exist, experiencing best practises and being exposed to great innovations; both technical and operational that will help reduce and manage risk.

The IAASF event will bring together an international range of presenters including

February 3, 2015

An International Conference co-organized by Columbia University's Department of Art History and Archaeology & Deutsches Haus ​in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut New York and the Jewish Museum, New York.